Mirror Image
by Ray The Red
Summary: "One quote changed Uchiha Sasuke's view forever and instead of prioritizing revenge and power he prioritizes redemption. Or, a world where Itachi's spiel plays out for the better." - A collection of drabbles-
1. Prologue: Mirror Image

**Mirror Image**

_\- "I realize I'm a mirror" -_

_\- Billy Corgan_

Seven year old Uchiha Sasuke did not like the fact that he had to go to a psychiatrist for therapy twice a week, but here he was nonetheless because it was a) mandatory, and b) decreed by the Hokage. He couldn't very well dismiss a direct order by the military leader of his village as that would be treason even if he really, at times, wanted to skip out on it. Luckily, Uchiha Sasuke was smart and had found a loop hole: he'd go, but he wouldn't tell the annoying and condescending woman anything. Really, he had no intention of reliving the dark memories that revisited him every damn night during the day, least of all by telling her. So, he stayed silent and grunted at times to let her know she at least had some of his attention, just not the large part of it.

Bored out of his skull, his eyes wandered around the boring office. A book case with boring ass books about the human psyche and whatnot, a desk, the comfortable chair she sat in, a window that showcased a part of the village, and some motivational posters on her wall. The few times he'd been here he hadn't really paid them much attention, but he decided that seeing as he literally had nothing better to do, that reading them couldn't hurt.

The first showed a picture of a full moon and read, "Dreams are difficult to come by if you can't fall asleep", which was just really logical, unless you counted daydreams… He almost asked her about that, but decided against it; if he opened his mouth, she'd expect things and Sasuke didn't exactly feel like meeting expectations at the moment.

The second poster showcased the profile of a running man, the line underneath reading, "Things may come to those who wait….but only the things left by those who hustle."* Now _that_ was a proper motivational poster, telling you to go do things and achieve something. He already had the mentality, though, because doing nothing wouldn't kill Itachi; would have been great it if did.

The third one, however, held his interest and made him think. It read, "Make sure your worst enemy isn't living between your own two ears."**

Now, it had been about a month or so since the massacre, and he had yet to sleep a whole night without seeing the slaughtering of his kinsmen over and over. Also, certain times of the day he heard Itachi's voice whisper his last demands, making him boil in anger. Not to mention that mirrors or reflective surfaces didn't tend to stay whole all that long around him. So, Sasuke was quite sure that Itachi had messed with his head and perhaps even left a part of himself there. Sasuke might not like talking about his problems, but he could at least admit to himself that he had them.

Sasuke's brows furrowed. If that was the case, and Itachi, or something left behind by Itachi, was inside his head, didn't that mean that listening to it and trying to achieve its whispered demands was counterproductive? Yes, yes it was.

This posed a new problem, because if so, that meant that his whole goal of murdering Itachi was, by proxy, not his own idea and instead an idea planted by Itachi. Or, at least, the method was. Hell, staying true to his clan's beliefs and traditions, whilst a nice gesture to the recently deceased, wasn't a very smart idea either because Itachi had been the embodiment of their clan's beliefs.

Besides, the clan's motto was "We are Control," which he had for the longest time interpreted as " control your emotions and actions so no one can read them" because that is what his father and brother did, _but _what if it was more along the lines of "Don't let them sweep you away"? If that was the case, then letting himself be swept up in anger and revenge, whilst a proper response to such a tragedy, wasn't the Uchiha way.

No, he would not do anything and everything to achieve the goal of his brother's death like the whispered voice proposed and demanded. He would do it the Uchiha way. He would redeem the Uchiha name, by not pursuing pure power, but by pursuing everything that Uchiha Itachi was not.

Uchiha Itachi was a genius, an exceptional ninja, so Uchiha Sasuke would be of average intelligence, and an average ninja; Uchiha Itachi had never been a Jonin, so Uchiha Sasuke would be; Uchiha Itachi was a Missing Nin, so Uchiha Sasuke would stay loyal to Konoha for as long as he lived.

He'd be Itachi's mirror's image.

And so, for the first time since the death of his family, Uchiha Sasuke smiled.

* * *

**AN: **Hello all and welcome to Mirror Image, a collection of drabbles on how I think Sasuke should have done things from the get go. It'll have its deep moments, true, but it'll be mostly lighthearted and humorous.

*Abraham Lincoln

**Laird Hamilton

Cheers,

Ray the Red


	2. Chapter 1: To Crawl

**To Crawl**

_\- "Anger can be a problem, but it has amazing potential, too. It's just figuring out what to do with it." _

_\- Sean Penn_

Never let it be said the Uchiha Sasuke was not a determined person; first he had tried reaching the heights that his brother had reached, and now he was trying his hardest to change the way of life he had been taught since he could talk in order to become everything that his former role model was not.

Uchiha Itachi had been a meticulous being, never a hair or act out of place, his room as Spartan as could be. Sasuke had yet to enter that room, afraid of what he would find. He tried very hard to ignore the urge to clean and to perfect - he had never been as tidy as Itachi, but a modicum of tidiness was practically a requisite in any Uchiha residence – as it reminded him of his brother. Cleaning had always been a habit, more or less, but after the Uchiha Incident it became an obsession; he found he could not not clean because he could still see the blood stains on the wood even if the Anbu had cleaned or replaced the floor boards. The constant nightmares probably had a heavy hand in that.

He'd outright refused the pills that would stop him from having the nightmares; he'd wanted to prove to himself, as well as to the image he had of Itachi, that he could take this torture. Besides, it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things because he saw the massacre every time he walked through the now empty clan compound. He tried, _oh how he tried_ to remember the happy memories that he had accumulated over the years, but the recent tragedy overshadowed them all. It would be that way for a long while, he knew.

And deep down, in a part of himself that he hated and would never acknowledge, he liked the nightmares because it was better than the silence and the emptiness that he lived in now; at least in that inverted and twisted world, he was with his family again – if only for a moment.

That first week after he had decided on a new course of action, he had exploded in anger because he couldn't fight that urge to clean and to perfect. He thought himself more of a failure than he already did, but once he'd calmed down he realized that change did not come easy. One did not run before they walked, and before one walked, one crawled. He needn't run immediately, so how about he start with crawling?

So, instead of going out to train as he had done practically all his life in order to reach the heights of his brother (recently, so that he could one day kill him) whilst simultaneously trying to gain the approval of his father (no longer possible seeing as the man was dead), Sasuke decided to just take a walk through the village. Walking through the village was a pastime he had rarely, if ever, exercised since the clan compound was practically a small town on its own.

It was sunny day, not all that unusual in the Land of Fire, but it was still a welcome thing nonetheless. The village was busy and crowded as had always been the case, especially given it was the weekend. At first it was refreshing, to walk amongst the throngs of talking and laughing people from all walks of life, as it was a 100 times better than the silence and emptiness of his clan compound. It lifted some of the heaviness off of his mind.

However, sooner rather than later, he noticed that wherever he walked conversations came to halt and happy eyes became sad and piteous. His onyx eyes narrowed and he glared at anyone who dared make those eyes at him. They looked away when his potent glare reached them, but he felt their stares linger on his back and heard their whispers. Anger getting the better of him, he stormed off to a training ground where he proceeded to hit a training log with all his might.

He hadn't come here for silence or for pity; if he wanted that he would have held a pity party at the Uchiha compound! Stupid civilians, what the hell did they know about pain and loss, about a betrayal so monumental and personal that it destroyed anything and everything you'd ever known? Nothing, they knew nothing! He was an Uchiha, damn it! He was better than them in every single aspect, so he did not need their pity; not now or ever!

He remembered the happy couples, the small families, and he hated them all because a month ago he'd still had all that! He remembered a little boy hugging his mother, and he saw his own falling down into a pool of her own blood. He remembered a little girl getting carried on the shoulders of her father and he saw a blade stick out of his own father's chest. Tears made their way down his cheeks as he punched his hands bloody. He remembered having run past a little boy playing with what could only be his brother and he saw a different Sharingan whirling into existence on a face he knew all too well.

The last Uchiha screamed to the heavens, "WHY! ITACHI, WHY!" He already knew the answer though, and it only made his blood boil hotter. Tears staining his face and blood on his knuckles, he ran to his home, because he suddenly knew what he had to do.

He ran up to the second floor and kicked down the door to his brother's room – it was as immaculate as ever. With a barbed grin, he began to ransack the place; removing drawers, toppling the desk, carving up the walls and floors with the spare kunai that he found. Out of the closet – the sliding door now well and truly out of commission - he took the clothes his brother had once worn, tore them apart and rolled it all up in one big ball. He ran to the pier in their backyard and threw the ball of cloth as high as he could. He imagined the ball of cloth was the face of brother. Sasuke flew through the hand signs – snake, tiger, boar, horse, tiger – took a large breath and in his mind shouted: "Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

The largest and hottest fire ball he had ever produced poured out of his mouth and lit the cloth on fire as it fell down. Steam rose where it had touched the water, and he stood there panting from the excursion. Using chakra, especially this much, was taxing on a seven year old, but he was glad to have done it because he felt better - so much better. It might no longer be Itachi's room or Itachi's stuff, but Sasuke felt that he had hit his brother in some fashion – if only symbolically and in his own imagination.

He reentered the house and made himself a simple dish of some rice and fish; using a lot of chakra made you hungry. Once he'd eaten his fill, he cleaned the dishes and kitchen until it was to his liking, after which he bandaged his bloody knuckles. He grabbed a book on the history of the world because in a week or so he would go back to the Academy.

That night he stopped to look at the damage he had done to his brother's former abode and found, to his complete surprise, that he didn't feel the urge to clean the mess at all. With a smile, he went to bed.

It would be the only self-made mess that Uchiha Sasuke permitted himself to leave be.

* * *

**AN: **Well this chapter was of that deeper variety I mentioned, and hopefully you all enjoyed that. As Sasuke found out, changing, especially when you're in a bad place like he is, isn't easy. Releasing you anger, though, helps a bunch instead of letting if fester. A lot of thanks to Ravenreux, who was the Beta for both chapters, so check out her stuff! Oh and for the people who are up for a challenge, check out my Forum and see if either one is to your liking!

Cheers,

Ray the Red


	3. Chapter 2: Ghosts

_Ghosts_

_"The people you love become ghosts inside of you, and like this you keep them alive." _

_\- Rob Montgomery_

He kept his eyes strictly focused on the black board, ignoring the pointed stares and whispers of his classmates. He ignored how every once in a while Iruka-sensei would glance at him when he asked a question to the class at large, like he was currently doing.

"What event started the Second World War?"

The answer was simple, really. It had been ignited by the destruction of Uzushiogakure, but Sasuke didn't raise his hand like he would have before the massacre and let Haruno Sakura, the teacher's pet as she was commonly referred to, answer it. Again. The civilian girl meekly gave the most textbook answer possible. It was good to know that things really hadn't changed whilst he'd been gone.

That was how he knew that the next question would be harder, and that Naruto Uzumaki, a Clanless orphan who not only had an honorary last name because of the aforementioned Uzushiogakure, but also the dead last in their class, would be asked to answer it. More than likely the blond, who boasted about wanting to become the Hokage, but had no skills whatsoever to back up that claim, would answer it wrong. Every once in a while, though, the boy would surprise all of them by getting it right. Sasuke wondered if now would be one such a time, given that the boy literally owed his name to this historical event. It was a 50/50 chance, and he decided to give the dead last the benefit of the doubt this time around.

In any case, he was content with knowing that the boy would capture the active interest of the whole class – Naruto always made a spectacle of himself – and it would thus keep the heat off of him for a while. This was only the second class of the first day and he was already itching to punch the next person who so much as glanced in his direction. He could not _wait_ for Taijutsu class and utterly trash someone. He wondered if Mizuki-sensei would also handle him like he was a frail doll, or if the man was still as ruthless a teacher as always. He really hoped the latter; beating someone who looked at him with pity would be very cathartic indeed.

Taijutsu he would not slack in, not even in order to keep up appearances of being average, and this was mainly because holding back on theory was so much easier than holding back in Taijutsu. Hell, he was already holding back most of the time, Clan Kata's banned until next year. Plus, if ever the day came and he confronted the traitor, then theory and politics wouldn't help, but this would.

"So, Naruto-kun," started Iruka-sensei, "if the tenuous joint effort of Yukigakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Takigakure is what wiped Uzushiogakure and started the Second World War, what and who put an end to it?"

The blond, who was sitting a row in front of him next to the Inuzuka heir, scratched his head. He looked at the puppy, which yapped. This yap was, apparently, the answer because the Uzumaki responded.

"Well… that'd be us and Wind, right? Led by Jiji – I mean the Sandaime. Oh and Tanigakure too… Uhhh I…uhhh think it was called the…Alliance of Three?"

Iruka-sensei blinked. All eyes were on Naruto, who'd done it again; he'd given the right answer. For many it was like seeing the Hyuuga heir curse, which, for the record, still had to happen. The absolute silence it caused always amused him, and his lips twitched.

"Well, yes. It was colloquially called that, officially it was known as the Southern Front. Well then Naruto-kun, if you know that, do you also know which battle and what treaty marked the end of the Second War?"

Probably not, he thought, but maybe the blond did know; he'd already surprised them once today. Hell, Naruto had probably heard it from the Sandaime himself, which was why he knew it in the first place. The Uzumaki absolutely adored and revered the Sandaime – given that he was lauded the God of Shinobi, it was not a bad choice for a role model at all – and had, through his excessive pranks, somehow come up on the leader's radar and even his good graces. How he got away with calling the Sandaime "Jiji", Sasuke would never know.

Funnily enough, he'd also come up on his Father's radar. He remembered how one evening he'd been told to not hang out with the Uzumaki, because the boy now officially had a file at the Police Bureau. Not that he had at any rate, his peer too annoying and loud, but it had been said.

Now that he thought of it, though, a lot of files were in the Uchiha compound's Police station - the main office actually contained the prison, so there was no way he was getting access that. Maybe he'd get access to it when he was older, it _was_ his by right, but that was a worry for later. For now the station in the compound would do; it was something to start with, because if he was going to restore honor to the name of his clan, one of the ways of doing so would be by restarting the Police force. Well no there'd be no need for that, really, because he wasn't under the illusion that it would remain in disuse for much longer. They were only doing it out of respect for his Clan, and he was thankful for that, but he also knew that a police force was necessary in a village this size. So he'd contend himself with one day claiming the spot that had been his fathers.

He'd look into what files they had at the compound when he got home, for now he wanted to see if Naruto actually knew the answer. Again, it was like predicting a coin toss, so this time, instead of going for heads he went for tails; the blonde wouldn't know it. He reasoned that that would be the outcome because the answer needed was very specific and Naruto was infamous for not knowing specifics. Vaguely, he entertained the notion of starting a betting ring around the concept.

Again the blonde scratched his head, this time even cocking it to the side. He turned to face the dog, and once more it yipped. The blonde scowled at the dog, and the Inuzuka heir grinned, showing off his wicked canines.

The prankster faced Iruka-sensei, who only raised an eyebrow in response to the exchange. "The battle that ended the Second war is… is the Battle in which Jiji gains the title God of Shinobi! Don't remember its name though…but I know it was beast because he used all five elements! And uhh…the treaty was… the Treaty of Whirlpools?"

"You're not wrong, a name for the battle and the proper respect for the Hokage would have been nice, Naruto-kun, _but_ you're not wrong." Which was about the closest thing to praise that Naruto would receive from Iruka, or any teacher for that matter.

It was cool to learn that it was the first time the Sandaime had demonstrated his mastery over all five elements in battle, because that hadn't been in the text book. He wondered if the blond had ever even opened said book.

A massive grin was on the Uzumaki's face and he turned to the dog. "Heh! I told you I got this shit! Who the fool now, Akamaru?"

Gloating to a dog wasn't very impressive – a puppy at that - but if proving he was smarter than the canine gave him pride, who was Sasuke to argue? Besides, it was amusing as anything.

Kiba, who tied with Naruto for most rambunctious student, sniffed and answered for his pet. "You got lucky is all!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Lucky?! Kiba, you don't know the name of the battle either!"

"I do too!"

"Oh, really," interrupted their teacher, a gleam in his eyes, "and what would the name be then, Kiba-kun?"

The pre-teen gulped and Sasuke felt a corner of his lip curl up; this was exactly the spectacle he'd been hoping for and he had front row seats.

* * *

It was during the lunch break, all five years of the students released in the school yard, that the loss of his clan once more hit him like a particularly good thrashing. Not only were there a lot of pitying glances sent his way and a lot of whispers floating around – all of which only served to anger him – but the loss was clear even in this small society. There were three trees in the yard: the one that was the most removed was the dobe's spot, the biggest and most central one, surrounded by a few benches, had been claimed by the older years and the last one had been the spot he and his cousins had claimed through a show of force.

He had never particularly gotten along with his peers in part because he thought he was better than them, but also in part because he'd grown up in a compound that was basically a small district in its own right. He had grown up and bonded with his cousins long before he'd met any of his peers, and they hadn't exactly enticed his interest. And now, as he sat beneath that tree alone for the first time, surrounded by the laughter of children, the emptiness that the loss of his family had left behind became so much more prominent. He'd thought that the clan compound had been the worst, but he'd been wrong.

In the clan compound, there was an oppressive silence and emptiness that reigned supreme; it blanketed and smothered the whole area. It was unavoidable there and the trauma overshadowed everything. Blood and death lingered there, and the very idea of life being there was a foreign one, which was probably why any good memories were banished to the deep recesses of his mind.

Here, though, here there was an abundance of happiness and life; chaotic and busy, instead of desolate and empty. Here he expected to hear Sachi ask about Itachi, or Akio boast about the fact that he'd beaten "that longhaired Hyuuga brat," or to even see Jun lazily wave at all of them from the most central bench. It was almost more than he could bear, because these were the first happy memories he'd had since the massacre. They had been small, inconsequential interactions, but right now he'd give anything to relive even one of them. For the first time he saw the ghosts of his family, instead of their corpses. It took everything he had to keep it together and keep the tears at bay.

* * *

He rolled to dodge the kick that the Uzumaki aimed at his face and jumped back to get a better grip on the situation. The blonde annoyance had gotten better in the month that Sasuke had been gone and going by the smile on the idiot's face, he'd realized it too. Not that it was monumental, had he been allowed to use Clan Kata he'd have destroyed his opponent in seconds, but it was there. The inverse was also true; his prowess had decreased a little. As much as it irked him, he also knew why. Sasuke's opponents for the last month had been training posts, whilst Naruto had had actual sparring partners.

He wasn't afraid to lose because he was still leagues ahead, but there was something about realizing that the world had truly gone on without him whilst he'd recuperated. On the other hand he was glad to get back into the swing of things, especially to keep his mind off of the recently uncovered ghosts, and Mizuki-Sensei's biased and tough Taijutsu class was definitely the remedy for that.

Naruto, in that respect, had always had the short end of the stick, having had to face the genius Hyuuga for a full year before any of them had even joined the academy, and for the last year him. See, Mizuki-Sensei was what Sasuke liked to term a weeder; he was the teacher who took it upon himself to weed out those who were unsuited for the ninja lifestyle, and it just so happened that Naruto – not entirely unjustified either - was deemed one such soul. It meant that the boy was dealt the harshest hand, but, and here he had to respect the blonde, Naruto refused to stay down for long.

In any case, this was a familiar dance, if a repetitive one. Sure, it was juvenile to feel any pleasure from solidly beating the Uzumaki into the ground, but it never failed to bring a lift to his mood and he could use one of those right about now. The blonde's stances and kata were atrocious, but it was in brawling that the boy truly shone. If he got his hands on you, which had happened in the past, you could be sure to get hit at least a few times – hard at that – before you'd get the upper hand. He also wasn't above playing dirty, which had gotten the boy some wins over the other civilians and even one time the Yamanake Heir.

He kept all of that in mind as he went on the offensive, and easily bypassed the horrible defensive stances and maneuvers that the blonde tried. It was almost sad because Naruto was a good fighter, regardless of his technique; even Mizuki-sensei had to admit that much. Sasuke's punches and kicks were fueled by the anger he'd bottle up all day (he even slipped into a few Clan moves, and he was glad that Mizuki-sensei was the kind of man who would let it slide every once in a while) and when that was spent he saw the dobe try and get up. He pinned him down, and their teacher called the match for what it was. They made the sign of reconciliation and bowed, the blonde scowling all the while.

Sasuke smirked, and as usual, this pissed the blonde off even more, but it was more for the sake of tradition than that it was done with feeling. He went to the sidelines as Kiba and Ino got ready for their match and the smirk slipped from his face. Why did he feel so hollow, he'd won hadn't he, so where was that sense of victory? He shook it off because almost all happy emotions were hard to access these days and the stark reminder of the ghosts he'd seen earlier that day weren't helping. He told himself that in time he would be smirking with a sense of pride once more, that that feeling of victory would flood his body. That he would feel more like his old self.

It had to get better because there was no lower he could go.

* * *

**AN: **Well, here we see Sasuke on his first day back in school, a mix of both good and bad. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter because I certainly enjoyed writing it. For those of you interested in more Uchiha goodness, check out some of my other stories! You know, its odd that all but one of my Naruto fics are centered around this Clan when the only Uchiha I genuinely like as a character and a person is Itachi. To be fair its probably because they're such a mess, I mean I write fanfiction mostly because Canon one hell of a clusterfuck. _Anyways _a huge thank you to ravenreux for editing this, check out her awesome stuff.

Tell me what ya think, R&amp;R!

Cheers,

Ray the Red


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